In 1947 four French cyclists departed from Paris, France toward Provence, the traditional Easter gathering place of France. Armed with steel bicycles, handlebar bags, and dynamo lighting, they proved to ride 461km in 24 hours in honor of Paul Vivie, one of the earliest pioneers of randonneuring. This event was one of the first organized events of the Club Audaux Parisien, the worldwide organizer of randonneuring and host of the Paris-Brest-Paris.
Today it is not just in France. It is an event practiced worldwide such as
Japan, Seattle, and of course right here by the San Francisco Randonneurs. While I was on my last journey with the San Francisco Randonneurs I was lucky enough to spend most of my day riding with John, Angela, and Ryan, at the end of the day, they invited me to join on this 24 hour extravaganza. It sounded like a challenge I couldn't pass up. I agreed. So the Friday before Easter we packed our bikes on top of John's car and headed East toward the mountains.
The Rules
One thing that is sort of frustrating about randonneuring are the archaic rules. The Fleche is full of whacky ones. Teams must consist of 3-5 machines (so no, one triple tandem does not count), ride for 24 hours, go at least 360 km, and try to ride as far as they can. All controls for us were open, with the exception of the 22 hour control, in which we must ride at least 25 km in the final 2 hours. No rest may be longer than two hours. If we fail to reach our destination but have ridden the allotted mileage we could stop and get a receipt to prove we finished. I hoped it wouldn't come to that.
Parting Shots of Yosemite Valley
This was my first time in Yosemite. It is some place. I wish I had more time to explore and hit some dirt tracks (there actually seemed to be some that were rideable).
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| You're doing it wrong. |
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| John was adamant on getting that damn receipt; like a true randonneur. |
The Ride
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| The ride profile was a hump and then a huge drop from the valley. That hump gave some pretty fantastic views. |
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| Ryan enjoying those views. |
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| Resting at the top. |
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| Group;regroup. |
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| Scars from the rim fire. |
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| It's all your fault. |
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| Covered bridge in Knight's Ferry. |
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| The covered bridge of Knight's Ferry was built in 1862 after the original bridge was destroyed by the Great Flood. It is the longest covered bridge East of the Mississippi spanning 330 feet. |
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| Knight's Ferry, CA was founded by Dr. William Knight in 1849, where he established a ferry crossing (hence the name). |
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| Small town service, just the right amount of surliness from this hole in the wall. |
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| Americana. |
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| No matter where you are, you ain't far from home. |
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| Goodbye sun. |
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| The Safeway in Livermore was a godsend after 30 MPH+ headwinds out of Tracy into a tough 1600 foot Tesla Pass followed by a cold cold descent into town. We were starting to run behind though and didn't have much time to hang around. |
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| 7-11 coffee is the best coffee when it's 3 AM, especially since we were all starting to feel the cold and were now running behind schedule. Caffeine was the only thing to get me through this ride. |
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| The inklings of morning. |
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| Hello sun. |
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| Back in the city. |
